2K Replay: KUNG FU HUSTLE

 by Adam Riske

Nominated for “Best Fight” at the MTV Movie Awards. It lost to Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

• Best Scene/Moment (tie): Any scene between Stephen Chow and the mute girl named Fong (Huang Shengyi) and the penultimate fight scene between the Beast (Leung Siu-lung) and the landlords (played by Yuen Qui and Yuen Wah).

• Best Song: “Fisherman’s Song of the East China Sea” composed by Ma Sheng Long and Gu Guan Ren.

• Best Merch: A “Kung Fu Hustle Promo Black Foldable Top Hat…” for $125.00. If you’re around short people you’ll be able to deny that you bought this just because of Kung Fu Hustle but if you’re around someone tall, they’ll know for sure you bought this because of the movie.

• Director Grade: Kung Fu Hustle was directed by Stephen Chow.
Great Movies: N/A
Good Movies: Kung Fu Hustle
OK Movies: N/A
Bad Movies: N/A
Unseen By Me: From Beijing with Love, Forbidden City Cop, The God of Cookery, King of Comedy, Shaolin Soccer, CJ7, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, The Mermaid, The New King of Comedy
Overall Grade: B+

• Double It with This 2005 Movie: Unleashed

• Year 2005 Movies to Trailer Before Them: Elektra, The Longest Yard, Stealth

• Never Talk to Strangers or Kung Fu Hustle? Kung Fu Hustle

• Mall Movie? Yep. Martial arts movies almost always play at the mall.

• Only in 2005: I saw a Stephen Chow movie. Even though I like Kung Fu Hustle, for some reason I never dove into his filmography. Any suggestions for what I should watch next?

• Scene Stealer: Leung Siu-lung.

• I Miss: Martial arts movies getting theatrical releases. There should be at least a handful every year.

• I Don’t Miss: Some of the humor with the Tailor character is outdated. I’m glad this type of humor is pretty much gone from movies nowadays.

• 2005 Crush: Huang Shengyi.

• 2025 Crush: Huang Shengyi.

• What I Thought in 2005: I liked it, didn’t love it. I thought it worked really well as a comedy but not as much as an action movie. I also thought it got a little tiresome by the end with the visual effects dominating the martial arts choreography.

• What I Think in 2025: I enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle more now than I used to. I still think the movie’s funny, especially Stephen Chow’s performance as the cowardly lead turned ultimate badass at the end. I think it works equally well as an action movie (the visual effects didn’t bother me this time or wear me out) and a comedy (it’s one of those cases where the characters behavior is funny and not just what they’re saying). I’m glad I revisited this one and am curious to watch more Stephen Chow movies.